A Moment of Unrest
by mortvivants
Summary: Albus had expected to spend his final year at Hogwarts studying for the NEWTs and playing Quidditch. He hadn't expected Scorpius to be back after five years at Durmstrang or to be inexplicably drawn to the boy and the danger that comes with him.


Disclaimer: As you can imagine, I own nothing here but the plot and a handful of original characters. Everything else is property of J.K. Rowling. No copyright infringement is intended in writing this, and, of course, I won't be making any money off of it.

Summary: Albus had expected to spend his final year at Hogwarts studying for the NEWTs and playing Quidditch. He hadn't expected Scorpius to be back after five years at Durmstrang or to be inexplicably drawn to the boy and the danger that comes with him.

* * *

><p>"<em>Albus Severus Potter<em>!"

The stern tone of his mothers voice was enough to snap Albus out of whatever daydream he'd been caught up in. Although, daydream probably wasn't the right word, as it was now evening – dinner time to be exact. He was sitting at the dining room table, James and Lily on either side, the former looking at him like he'd lost it. Across from them sat an unhappy looking Ginny Weasley, as well as two of her nieces – Percy's daughters – Molly and Lucy.

"Sorry mum," Al sat up straight, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

"Your cousin asked you a question." His mother definitely did not look pleased. She'd probably give him one of her long-winded talks about manners once company was gone, and his dad – who'd been working late nights for the past month – wouldn't be around to intervene.

"Could she maybe...r-repeat it?" He stuttered the question, still unsure of what had been said in the first place.

"You know, Albus, it's not polite to-"

"Oh, it's fine aunt Gin," Molly interrupted, the smile on her face was genuine. "Al's probably got a lot on his mind. I know I was so terribly stressed during the days leading up to my last year." Al wasn't sure she'd had any reason to be, she was quite the intelligent witch. Her father hadn't been very happy to find out her post-Hogwarts plans involved moving to Muggle London to work as a singer. She could have gotten just about any job, even one at the Ministry.

"If you ask me, he's just gone bonkers," James quipped.

"Well it's a good thing nobody asked you then," Lily, as usual, leapt to his defense, but before James could continue the argument, their mother cut in: "Would you two, _please_?"

Dinner went on in silence after that moment, though less awkward than it could have been. Every now and then, Ginny would ask Molly a question about what she'd been doing since she left for Muggle London but other than that, nobody spoke. Al was once again wrapped up in thought about studying for his NEWTs and making sure Quidditch tryouts went smoothly when the term started. James had his final year of Auror training to worry about, and Lily...well most people would be hard-pressed to guess what was on her mind at any given time.

Al excused himself before dessert, his stomach refusing to accept any more food. His mother, again, did not look pleased but she let him go ahead. He felt no better lying in bed though, and he certainly couldn't sleep. He'd been feeling..._apprehensive_ all day. He wasn't sure why. He done quite well on his OWLs, he expected the same results from his NEWTs. He was sure he'd be able to get into the Auror program. And Quidditch? There was never a reason for worry when it came to that area of expertise. Everyone said he was the best Gryffindor seeker since...well, since his father.

No, this was something else. Something he couldn't quite place. Like, intuition. A sense of foreboding. It made him feel somewhat silly, in all honesty. Bad things never happened to him. Not really. Unless you counted losing a Quidditch game or James whacking him upside the head once in awhile. He'd had an awkward incident here and there during the summer but nothing extreme. At least that was what he told himself.

His mind was still crowded when sleep came, and it was almost a relief when he was awoken from his fitful rest by his sister bouncing down on the spot next to him. "Rise and shine, sleepyhead."

"_Merlin_, what time is it?" He pulled himself up onto his elbows, reaching over to the nightstand with one hand to pull on his glasses. It was dark in the room, aside from a lone candle on the night table and the moon shining in through the window. He could make out his sisters shape, and much of features nonetheless.

She shrugged, "around 3 am, I think."

"Couldn't this wait until morning?" He asked, rubbing his temples. He felt a headache coming on.

"Well, jeez Albus, I don't know. If it could do you think I'd be in here?" She was being snippy, but a grin was plastered on her face.

"Alright, alright," he sat up completely, "what is it then?"

"I couldn't sleep," she started, "so I was going downstairs to get a cup of water, maybe walk around the gardens a bit when I overheard mum and dad talking-"

"Overheard as in eavesdropped?" He questioned, interrupting her.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes, "the point is you'll never guess who came to see dad at the Ministry today!" She seemed...excited, or maybe anxious. Either way it was surprising, Al wasn't used to huge displays of emotion from her.

"No...but I'm assuming you're going to tell me?"

She leaned forward, her voice barely above a whisper and dripping with melodrama, "_Draco Malfoy_."

Al's eyebrows shot up. He was genuinely shocked to hear it. While he knew they'd been civil with each other since their time at school, he didn't think his father had spoken a word to the other man in years. "That's...curious."

"Oh, but there's more," she continued, "you remember Scorpius don't you?"

He nodded, "I remember. I didn't really know him though – him being in Slytherin and all. And then he transferred to Durmstrang second year."

"Right, well apparently someone attacked him at school, and now his grandparents are missing..." her voice trailed off momentarily, "long story short, Draco wanted to be sure that Hogwarts is still a safe place while he tries to figure this whole thing out."

He was silent for a moment. It was a lot to take in. He wasn't sure he was processing it all. "Wait, so why'd he go to dad first and not Headmaster McGonagall? Dad might be able to help with finding Scorpius's grandparents, but Hogwarts isn't exactly his jurisdiction."

"I don't know," she shrugged, "maybe he did? But I doubt they're on the best of terms."

"That all happened years ago. Besides, it's not like he and dad are."

"No...but he's _dad_," she responded quite matter-of-factly.

"Good point." Harry Potter wouldn't turn down a person in need, regardless of the circumstances. It wasn't in his nature.

* * *

><p>The next few days passed by uneventfully. If anything they'd been boring. Al had packed and repacked his trunk for Hogwarts endlessly in a failed attempt to pass the time. He just hoped he hadn't left out or forgotten anything in the process. He had the urge to check it then, standing on the platform, getting ready to board the train, but he restrained. His father had been unable to make it, but his mother was there, fussing over Lily, telling her to be good. His aunt Hermione had been giving a similar lecture to Hugo when they'd arrived, but she was gone already – important business at the Ministry, apparently.<p>

"...and Al, try to keep an eye on your sister, ok?" Ginny smiled at him, ruffling his hair lightly. She seemed to be in a good mood.

"Yes, mum." It was sort of a lie. He would try, he always did. But no one told Lily what to do, and when she was with Hugo they tended to get...ahead of themselves – worse so if Franklin Longbottom was around.

"And try not to stress yourself out too much." He nodded in response. She kissed his cheek, then Lily's forehead, and she was off.

Hugo was waving Lily over. She gave Al's arm a squeeze before walking off in his direction, slapping hands with Rose as they passed each other. His cousin pulled him into a hug as soon as he was within reaching distance. "Missed you, Al."

"I probably missed you more." He was closer with Rose than almost anyone else. It was a shame they hadn't been sorted into the same house, but Ravenclaw was fitting for her and they still saw each other often. Especially since they'd both been prefects since fifth year.

"We should get going, I've gotta give the fifth year prefects their instructions," she paused looking around to see if anyone was close, but it seemed most kids had boarded already. "Plus, I've got a bit of gossip for you."

He chuckled, "go on without me, Head Girl. I'm still waiting for Louis to get here." His other cousin had promised to see him off.

"Alright, but don't miss the train waiting for him." The stern look she gave him was similar to his mother's, or maybe more appropriately, his aunt's. "You know Louis is never on time for anything." She gave him another hug, before making her way towards the train. He checked his watch, 10:45. Not a minute had passed before Al felt a tap on his shoulder.

"You made it," he exclaimed, spinning around. He was face to face with Louis Weasley. Bill and Fleur's youngest, probably Al's second favorite cousin. The first (part) Veela that you could associate the words ginger and male with. He was quite dapper as well but that was beside the point.

"Well, of course," he placed both hands on Al's shoulders, squeezing them gently, "had to see you off." Louis was a year older than him, and had always been something of a big brother figure. Al felt closer to him than he'd ever felt to James. He had a good relationship with Teddy as well but it wasn't the same because the other man was so much older.

"It's going to be odd not having you around this year," Al confessed, "who will I talk to about..._guy_ stuff?"

Louis chuckled, dimples showing. "Gay stuff, more like," he corrected.

"That too, I guess" he shrugged. Of the twelve Weasley cousins, he and Louis were the only two that were gay. It was something they had bonded over. Not that anyone in the family had been unkind to either of them about their sexuality but they didn't always _get it_.

"You'll be fine, Al," Louis assured him, "And hey, I got you this...a little invention of mine." He handed him what looked like a locket. For a moment, Al thought it might be a time turner but upon closer inspection he knew he was wrong. It was a silver chain, with a small owl shaped pendant attached – also made of silver. It's eyes were small rubies.

"I love it," Al replied, slipping it over his head, tucking the owl into his shirt, "but wait...what does it do?" This wasn't the first of Louis's creations. Al was familiar with the other ones. They were always more than something nice to look at.

"I can't tell you, silly," Louis winked at him, "It takes away the element of surprise." He pulled Al in for a quick hug before telling him, "now get your arse on that train before it leaves without you."

"I'm going, I'm going," he said, already backing away from Louis, dragging his trunk towards the train, "don't forget to write!"

"I wouldn't think of it," Louis called back to him. Al waved goodbye before getting onto the train with five minutes to spare. The good thing about being a prefect was that he knew he'd have a place saved for him at the front. He found Rose and Franklin in the second to last compartment, letting himself in.

"Finally mate," Franklin said, his voice dripping with exasperation, "you're lucky the train didn't leave the station without you." Franklin Longbottom was one of Al's closest friends at Hogwarts. He was a curious boy, roughly the same height as Al – that is, not very tall. He had his mother's hair color and her face shape, while his actual features were more similar to his fathers. He wasn't conventionally attractive by any means, but he had a certain _swagger_, and a healthy amount of confidence that girls seemed to go crazy for.

"Aw, would you have missed me?" He asked, hauling his trunk onto the empty seat, and sitting down next to it. Rose and Franklin were seated across from him.

"Not at all," he shot back, "but Rose has something she's _desperate_ to talk about and she refused to spill until you showed up. The anticipation's just eating away at me." Sarcasm tended to be his weapon of choice.

"Well it's always good to know you care," Al replied.

"I probably would have you missed a little bit," Franklin said after a brief pause, "maybe a smidgeon."

"I'll take what I can get," Al chuckled.

Rose rolled her eyes, "moving on..."

"Hey, shouldn't you be sitting with the Head Boy?" Al questioned.

"He's boring," she leaned back into her seat, "besides I wanted to talk to you guys."

"Go on then," Al said. "We're all ears," Franklin added, although there was a hint of a snicker in his voice.

If Rose noticed, she ignored him. "So, I got here earlier than both of you – as usual – and I bumped into Lucy-"

"-Lucy?" Franklin cut in.

"...My cousin," Rose said.

"You have a lot of cousins you know, which one?"

"The one...she's in your house," she paused, "you're not serious..."

"I'm not," he poked her in the side, "I'm just fucking with you. Continue." Al had to laugh, he couldn't help himself.

"Merlin give me strength," Rose mumbled before going on, "like I was trying to say, she'd gotten here even before me and she said she saw Draco Malfoy with his son. Apparently Scorpius transferred back from Durmstrang. No idea why but-"

"-Old news." Al commented.

"_What_?" Rose, and Franklin, who seemed to be genuinely intrigued by the news, asked in unison.

"Yeah, Lily heard mum and dad talking about it a few nights back. Apparently there was some kind of incident at Durmstrang where he was attacked. And now he's back here for his safety." Al relayed the story Lily had told him. He decided to leave the part about the other boy's grandparents out. He wasn't sure if anyone other than his parents (and Lily) even knew about it. Not that he didn't trust Rose and Franklin, but better to be safe.

"Weird," Rose commented, "think they'll have to sort him again?"

Al shrugged, "I Doubt it. The hat put him in Slytherin in first year. He probably hasn't changed all that much."

"He probably hasn't changed at all. He's coming from _Durmstrang._" Franklin pointed out.

"I just hope whoever went after him at Durmstrang doesn't come here," Rose shivered.

"If they do, I'll protect you," Franklin winked at her.

"Oh, I'm sure you will." She shared a knowing smirk with Al, but he just looked out the window, already knowing where the conversation was headed.

"So what do you think are the odds for me and you this year, Rosie?" Franklin asked, raising an arm to place around her shoulder.

She sighed, but did nothing to move it. "I'm afraid it still isn't going to happen, Frankie."

"Why?" He pressed on, "and don't say you're out of my league. You shagged Stanley Corner last year. He looks like a mouse and has the hygiene habits of a caged Hog."

"Don't say that," she swatted him in the side, "Stanley was sweet."

"If he was so sweet then why'd you break up with him?"

"He was clingy."

"Well it's a good thing I'm the opposite of that."

"Mhm," Rose agreed, "but I'm kind of seeing someone now, so..."

"Wait, what?" Albus was now paying attention again.

"Who? When did this happen?" Franklin asked.

"Well I bumped into Tobias at Diagon Alley last month and you know Fortescue's is open again so we stopped to have some ice cream and-"

"-Tobias _McLaggen_?" Franklin wasn't impressed. "He's a complete wanker, tell me you're kidding."

She shook her head. "I think he's cute, and he was nice enough to me."

"You could do better, Rose," Al chimed in.

"For Merlin's sake boys, I'm not marrying him. We'll hang out at Hogsmeade a few times this year, it's not a big deal."

"Hey Al, didn't your sister go out with Tobias?" Franklin asked. "That's kind of a crappy thing for a cousin to do Rose, grabbing hold of a guy after Lil's through with him."

"They didn't date," Rose said, swatting him again.

"They only snogged...once," Al answered, "I still haven't forgiven him for it."

"Enough," Rose continued, "no more talking about my love life...or Lily's"

"Maybe we should talk about Al's," Franklin butted in, the smirk was back.

Albus could feel his cheeks heating up already. He hated that he blushed so easily. "There's nothing to talk about."

"I thought Louis was going to hook you up with a guy this summer," Rose said with a tilt of her head.

"Hopefully not one he'd been with," Franklin added. Rose gave him one of her stern looks. "What? I hear boys are never the same after a shag with him...not that I'd know from experience," he added as an afterthought.

Al managed to cut in before Rose could reply, "he did. He did introduce me to someone but it didn't work out."

"What happened?" Rose asked. Her voice sounded sincere.

"I don't want to talk about it," Al replied, returning his attention to the scenery outside the window.

He was lost in thought for the rest of the trip, so Rose and Franklin continued the banter back and forth without him.

* * *

><p>That's it for Chapter One. I realize it's a little slow, but things pick up in the next chapter, once they're at Hogwarts.<p>

I Don't have a beta right now. So any mistakes are mine. (If anyone would like to volunteer to be my beta, that would be splendid. As you can imagine there are plenty beta-readers listed for HP fics on this website and it's a daunting task trying to pick one person to reach out to).

Other than that, there should be an update soon. Reviews are lovely, I'd like to know if anyone at all is intrigued and if this is worth continuing.


End file.
